Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

Johannesburg's rise from gold rush camp to megacity

Johannesburg did not grow from a port or a royal seat, but from the discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand area in the 1880s. Within decades, a scattered mining settlement became the economic engine of South Africa. Today it is one of the largest urban areas on the continent, while Pretoria remains the administrative capital and Cape Town hosts parliament - a split that reflects South Africa's unusual arrangement of three capital cities.

The long literary shadow of Moby-Dick

Herman Melville's novel was not a success when it appeared in 1851. Its reputation grew slowly, and by the twentieth century it was widely regarded as one of the great American novels. The obsessive Captain Ahab, the narrator Ishmael and the white sperm whale have inspired countless adaptations, references and reinterpretations in film, theatre, music and popular culture.

Zagreb and Skopje - two capitals shaped by shifting empires

Zagreb has been the political and cultural centre of Croatia since the Middle Ages, but its modern role was shaped by centuries of Habsburg influence. Skopje, by contrast, sits in a region long contested by Byzantine, Ottoman and later Yugoslav powers. North Macedonia's capital has undergone dramatic rebuilding in recent decades, making it one of the more visually distinctive capitals in southeastern Europe.

Van Gogh's night café in Arles

Vincent van Gogh painted The Night Café in Arles in 1888. He was living in the southern French city at a time of intense productivity and growing mental strain. The painting depicts the interior of a local café with clashing reds, greens and yellows. Van Gogh wrote that he wanted to express the idea that the café was a place where one could ruin oneself, go mad or commit a crime.